KABUL, June 19 (Xinhua) -- More than 40 fighters with majority of them the anti-government militants had been killed elsewhere in the militancy-battered country over the past 24 hours, officials said Wednesday.
The government forces in the latest crackdown against militants launched airstrikes against a Taliban hideout in Farah Rod district of the western Farah province on Wednesday, killing four armed insurgents on the spot, provincial police spokesman Mohibullah Mohib said.
Similarly, a fighting between security forces and the Taliban fighters for the control of Shuhada district in northern Badakhshan province claimed nine lives including seven militants and two security personnel on the same day, an army spokesman Abdul Hadi Jamal confirmed.
Five more militants sustained injuries in the fighting, according to the official.
A clash between Taliban fighters and police in Yahya Khil district of eastern Paktika province on Wednesday morning claimed the lives of one police officer and three militants, police spokesman in the province Shah Mohammad Aryan said.
According to Aryan, three more police and three militants were injured in the firefight which lasted for three hours.
Moreover, fighting for the control of the strategically important Ghormach district in the western Badghis province had left 25 militants dead and injured 16 others since Tuesday, army spokesman Mohammad Hanif Rezai reported without providing information on the possible casualties of the security personnel.
Both Taliban and government forces have intensified operations recently.
